big
//bɪɡ//
Forms
- Comparative
- bigger
- Superlative
- biggest
- Comparative
- bigger
- Superlative
- biggest
Definitions
1.Of great size, large.
- Elephants are big animals, and they eat a lot.
- Out of the 484 Utah water systems that reported data in 2024, only 66 fluoridated their water, an Associated Press analysis showed. The largest was the state’s biggest city, Salt Lake City.
2.Large with young; pregnant; swelling; ready to give birth or produce.
- She was big with child.
3.Well-endowed; with a desired body part notably large.(informal)
- I've been lifting weights for a full year now, but I'm finally getting big.
- I'm the shortest man on the team but in the gym shower everyone can see that I'm also the biggest.
4.Adult; (of a child) older.(informal)
- She did it all on her own like a big girl.
- Kids should get help from big people if they want to use the kitchen.
- We were just playing, and then some big kids came and chased us away.
1.In a loud manner.
2.In a boasting manner.
- He's always talking big, but he never delivers.
3.In a large amount or to a large extent.
- He won big betting on the croquet championship.
- I've always been big into sport, but I'm especially big into football.
- Don't miss our November sale, it's your last chance to save big before Christmas!
4.On a large scale, expansively.
- You've got to think big to succeed at Amalgamated Plumbing.
- 'You've got to put it over big,' he was saying in a loud nasal voice.
Frequency
Overall
Very common· #156
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Common
- General reading & writing
- Very common
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Uncommon
Related words
Etymology
Inherited from Northern Middle English big, bigge (“powerful, strong”), possibly from a dialect of Old Norse. Ultimately perhaps a derivative of Proto-Germanic *bugja- (“swollen up, thick”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰew-, *bu- (“to swell”), in which case big would be related to bogey, bugbear, and bug.